Kalshi Prepares CFTC Filing for a Never-Expiring WTI Crude Oil Futures Contract

Kalshi is preparing to file with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for approval of a perpetual futures contract tied to West Texas Intermediate crude oil, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The filing is expected as early as next week and would seek approval for 24/5 trading. If cleared, it would be the first perpetual oil contract to trade on a regulated US exchange.

Perpetual futures carry no expiry date, so a trader can hold a leveraged position indefinitely instead of closing it, taking settlement or rolling into the next delivery month. Kalshi structured the contract to work around concerns the CFTC raised in its own review of round-the-clock futures trading and perpetual energy contracts, Reuters quoted the source as saying. That review asked whether standard energy futures could trade continuously and whether perpetuals referencing physically delivered or storable commodities such as crude should be listed at all. The comment period closed August 26.

The timing sits against a volatile tape. Crude traded near $93 on Wednesday after US strikes on Iran. Kalshi has separately filed for perpetuals on precious metals, a large-cap US equity index and copper, plus foreign exchange and interest-rate contracts.

The CFTC in July blocked a CME attempt to launch round-the-clock crude futures trading.

Kalshi’s perpetual push started with bitcoin. The CFTC approved its BTCPERP contract on May 29, the first true bitcoin perpetual on a US-regulated exchange, and the product cleared $16.1 billion in notional volume by early July. Chief Risk Officer Udesh Jha described the company’s energy discussions with regulators as advanced in July, when Kalshi filed for gold, silver and platinum perpetuals under a process giving the agency 45 days to approve or block. The company was separately seeking funding at a $40 billion valuation in June with an eye on its own 2027 listing.

Related Listen: CME vs. Kalshi. Is Washington Picking a Winner in Prediction Markets?

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